Going Gluten-Free Means Changing Your Diet ... & Who You Date

It's been about a decade since my college roommate, my future brother-in-law, and my now-husband's grandmother were diagnosed with Celiac disease. Docs were just getting a grasp on gluten intolerance and gluten-free foods were just taking off. For the most part, people who had to go gluten-free were miserable about it, and who could blame 'em being that they were pretty much living on rice cakes and veggies?!

Now, it's a whole new world out there. So much so that a new dating site called GlutenfreeSingles.com launched last month and already has 3,000 members in search of a soul mate with a compatible diet ... and lifestyle. The site has been the butt of plenty of jokes, but I feel like the people making fun of it kinda have no clue what they're talking about.

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I definitely see a need for a site like this! After all, people who are committed to a particular diet -- be it gluten-free, vegan, Kosher, organic, etc. -- need to be with someone who can be immensely supportive, if not 100 percent on the same page.

If my husband hadn't taken to the organic/whole foods, anti-fast/processed food lifestyle I adopted after having my mind blown and eyes opened by Food, Inc. and Jillian Michaels' Master Your Metabolism, we'd be in trouble. If he insisted on eating drive-through hamburgers and drinking soda, we'd have a serious problem -- especially once we have children. Thankfully, we very much see eye-to-eye on what's okay. If I insist on organic only chicken because I won't tolerate the antibiotics, hormones, and heavy metals in conventional meat, he's okay with us spending on that, even if it is $2-$3 more a pound.

And in our case, I'm not even talking about a serious allergy! People who are intolerant to gluten are dealing with a whole different kind of beast. With Celiac, you could land yourself in the hospital if you -- or your partner -- isn't careful about what you're eating. My sister-in-law doesn't have Celiac herself, but she's made sure to keep the home she shares with my brother-in-law and nieces gluten-free, because his well-being depends on it. That's no joke! And neither is a site catering to people whose diet is so serious that it's a lifestyle.

What are your thoughts on diet-specific dating sites -- silly or makes total sense?